Inkjet Printing of Structurally Colored Self-Assembled Colloidal Aggregates

Structurally colored materials offer increased stability, high biocompatibility, and a large variety of colors, which can hardly be reached simultaneously using conventional chemical pigments. However, for practical applications, such as inkjet printing, it is vital to compartmentalize these materials in small building blocks (with sizes ideally below 5 μm) and create “ready-to-use” inks. The latter can be achieved by using photonic balls (PB): spherical aggregates of nanoparticles. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, how photonic ball dispersions can be used as inkjet printing inks. We use solvent drying techniques to manufacture structurally colored colloidal aggregates. The as-fabricated photonic balls are dispersed in pentanol to form ink. A custom-made inkjet printing platform equipped with an industrial printhead and recirculation fluidic system is used to print complex structurally colored patterns. We increase color purity and suppress multiple scattering by introducing carbon black as a broadband light absorber.